10 witnesses, video draw prosecution’s case to a close in capital murder trial

Stacey Glaesmann

Published 4:42 pm, Friday, February 6, 2015

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10 witnesses, video draw prosecution’s case to a close in capital murder trial

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Members of the jury in the capital murder trial of Don Collins shifted their eyes to the defendant Friday morning as state witness Tommy Duroy took the stand.

A detective with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, Duroy spoke matter-of-factly about Collins, who is on trial for capital murder.

“Based on my investigation, I believe that the person who burned Robert Middleton was Don Willburn Collins,” he said.

Collins, who is facing a possible sentence of 20 years in prison, remained stoic.

Middleton, a Splendora resident in 1998, was celebrating his eighth birthday on June 28 when the 13-year-old Collins allegedly poured gasoline on him and set him on fire. Middleton survived third-degree burns over 99 percent of his body for 13 years, but he died on April 29, 2011, at age 20 as a result of metastatic skin cancer allegedly caused by his burn injuries.

Collins, now 29, is facing allegations related to the incident for a third time. He was originally detained in 1998 for aggravated assault and spent time in the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center. A civil suit was filed against him in 2011 by the Middleton family, which they won.

Duroy and his partner, Det. Terry Greenwood, the only two detectives in the Cold Case Homicide Unit of MCSO, were tasked with re-opening the Middleton investigation in 2011 after Middleton’s death.

Duroy testified that a long list of evidence — including a jug of liquid and several cigarette butts collected from the crime scene, along with a plastic gas can obtained from the residence where Collins lived and clothing worn by Collins on the day of the incident — was routinely destroyed in 2006 because of the time elapsed, making the investigation more difficult despite MCSO’s policy to “start over” in cold cases.

Duroy and Greenwood have built their case over the last four years by tracking down approximately 115 witnesses, including 30 people interviewed for the first time, across the states of Texas, Alabama and Missouri. They have also tested evidence that escaped destruction, such as soil samples from around the tree where Middleton was allegedly burned. Those samples tested positive for gasoline.

After lunch, eight inmates from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, who asked to remain anonymous, testified about their interactions with Collins while they were in the Montgomery County Juvenile Detention Center together in 1998.

All eight inmates stated that they had heard Collins admit on multiple occasions to tying Middleton to a tree and setting him on fire. They all testified that Collins had seemed to be bragging when he spoke of the incident.

The final witness from TDCJ stated that Collins told him he set Middleton on fire to see what a burning body looked like. The inmate added, “I’ll never forget the look on Don’s face. It was like he had no soul.”

The state then showed raw television news footage of an interview with Collins from June 30, 1998.

In the video, the reporter asked a 13-year-old Collins what he knew about the incident. Collins provided a timeline that would make it possible for “Rex” to have committed the crime. But he also said that he was having nightmares.

“I haven’t slept. I keep having flashbacks of Robert on fire and stuff,” said Collins, who then told the reporter about a fundraiser for Middleton and invited people to “drop money off.”

Rex is Rex Taylor, a neighbor of the Middletons in 1998. He was 16 at the time, and Middleton at one point identified him as the perpetrator.

The state closed the day and its case by calling Robert Miller, who is a distant relative of Collins, to the stand.

Miller testified that in 1998, when he was 8 years old, Collins raped him. Miller said that he tried to hide the incident from his mother because Collins told him that, “if I told anyone, he would kill me and burn me like Robbie.”

Miller also said that Collins had a gun, though he “wasn’t sure if it was a real gun or a toy gun. I was a little kid. I thought he would kill me.”

Miller’s mother noticed his change in behavior and was able to get Miller to tell her what happened. Charges were filed with the Texas Youth Commission in Liberty County and the case was adjudicated, which is the juvenile court’s version of a conviction.